Providing sustainable indemnity to healthcare professionals
"Primum non nocere," this is the Latin expression in the Hippocratic Oath taken by healthcare professionals and one of the promises made, which mean; "first, do no harm".
In its Guidance for Managing Ethical Issues published on 7 April 2020, The South African Medical Association states that; "care is the foundation of medicine, and this foundation is strengthened by the oath doctors take, committing their lives to the service and benefit of humanity. A doctor's primary duty and obligation is to their patient; their health and wellbeing." However, there are unfortunate instances where a medical practitioner fails to follow through with the minimum required quality of treatment, leaving a patient critically ill, impaired, weakened, or even killed as a result.
The reality is that ethical dilemmas in healthcare are common even under normal circumstances because healthcare responds to human suffering. As the coronavirus spread across the world, the pandemic's impact was felt in the medical industry as well - normal processes were disrupted, and the need for doctors to provide ethically sound patient care was magnified.
It is on the backdrop of the encounters faced by health professionals that the role of PPS Health Professions Indemnity (HPI) is amplified. HPI is there to address the challenges faced by South African healthcare professionals due to the aggressive litigation landscape, including the rising professional indemnity costs, stress and burnout. When building this solution, HPI chose to partner with ProAssurance Corporation, one of America's leading experts in medical professions indemnity, with a reputation built in the most litigious nation in the world.
While earnestly plying their trade, health professionals are in the unenviable position of facing multiple jeopardies – a single consultation or incident may result in several actions against one. The consequences may range from an unhappy patient reporting a practitioner to the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), to that same patient implementing legal action claiming damages from the practitioner. Similarly, a patient's death may result in an HPCSA investigation, a judicial inquest or even a criminal trial where a doctor is charged with culpable homicide and, if found guilty, sentenced to prison and consequently erased from the register. All this resulting from a single incident.
This is where the need for the provision of sustainable quality indemnity for the health professional's career arises. The HPI philosophy on the treatment of reported malpractice incidents is based on the principle of fair treatment for all people involved.
Click HERE to find out more information about the PPS Health Professions Indemnity.
About PPS
PPS boasts in excess of 150 000 members who enjoy access to a comprehensive suite of financial and healthcare products that are specifically tailored to meet the needs of graduate professionals.
PPS is the largest South African company of its kind, exclusively for graduate professionals, that still embraces an ethos of mutuality, which means that it exists solely for the benefit of its members. Thus, PPS members with qualifying products from PPS Insurance, PPS Investments and Profmed share in the profits of PPS Insurance, PPS Investments and PPS Healthcare Administrators via annual allocations to the unique PPS Profit-Share Account.
PPS membership provides access to the following tried, tested and trusted products and services: PPS Life Insurance, PPS Short-Term Insurance, PPS Financial Advisory, PPS Investments and Profmed Medical Scheme. Visit www.pps.co.za for more information.
PPS is a Licensed Insurer and Financial Services Provider.